9 Ingredients. 20 Cocktails

The Cocktail Party has been all the rage in the metro recently; so let’s say you are trying to live up to your partyphile name and would want to throw a cocktail party for your friends. Let’s say you are on a tight budget, but would want to create and serve as many drinks as you possibly can; which actually makes sense because more drinks spell a lot more fun for your guests. Instead of settling for one or two cocktails, your guests would (surely) rather choose from a wide array. How could you do that while staying on the budget? Easy as pie. Just keep on reading.

Here is a list of everything you will need to throw your own (simple but) fabulous cocktail party: Vodka, Dry Vermouth, Tonic Water, Red Bull, 7-Up, Orange Juice, Lemon Juice (or Calamansi juice if you are truly trying to stay on budget), Iced Tea, and Jell-O.

Here are the most basic cocktails featuring two ingredients. Start with these and move on to more complicated cocktails once you have perfected them. The measurements here are just to serve as a guide on the proportions, but you could change them up as you wish.

1.) Vodkatini- In a shaker, mix half a shot (or less, depending on your preference) of dry vermouth with two shots of vodka over ice. Shake. Strain (making sure there is no ice in the serving glass) into a long-stemmed martini glass.

2.) Screw Driver- Pour a shot of vodka in a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Pour orange juice to fill. Stir and serve.

3.) Vodka Red Bull- Follow the instructions for Screw Driver, replacing the Orange Juice with Red Bull.

4.) Vodka Tonic - Follow the instructions for Screw Driver, replacing Orange Juice with Tonic Water.

5.) Iced-tini - Follow the instructions for Screw Driver, replacing Orange Juice with Iced Tea

6.) Vodka 7- Follow the instructions for Screw Driver, replacing Orange Juice with 7-Up

7.) Lemon Drop- Follow the instructions for Screw Driver, replacing Orange Juice with Lemon Juice. You may also add sugar for extra-sweetness.

8.) Electric Jello- Prepare Jell-O as you normally would, replacing some part of water with vodka, depending on how strong you would want them. Remember, however, not to cook your vodka. So if your gelatin recipe asks you to cook your vodka, put the alcohol in right before putting the gelatin into their molds. I always use those plastic condiment cups to hold my Electric Jello shots because they are a good size and they slide of very easily. Try this recipe with any and every Jello recipe, or if you are on a really tight budget, try local gulaman.

Simple enough, right? You could opt to stop with these seven fantastic drinks, which your guests will surely love; but if you want to bring your party a notch higher, try these cocktails that feature three simple ingredients:

9.) Rainy Night- Follow the recipe for a Vodkatini. Add a dash of Lemon Juice and serve in a highball glass over ice.

10.) Firefly- Follow recipe for Rainy Night, replacing Dry Vermouth with Grenadine.

11.) Johnny (or Zhaun in honor of me) On the Beach - In a highball glass filled with ice cubes, pour a shot of vodka and then fill to the brim with equal parts lemon juice and orange juice.

12.) Vodka Pink Bull- In a highball glass filled with ice cubes, pour a shot of vodka, a tablespoon of grenadine, and fill to the brim with Red Bull.

13.) Addison (or Zhaun.hehe) Special- Follow recipe for Vodka Pink Bull, replacing Red Bull with Orange Juice.

14.) Pink Pie- Follow recipe for Vodka Pink Bull, replacing Red Bull with 7-Up.

15.) Raging Bull- In a highball glass filled half-way with ice cubes, pour a shot of vodka. Fill to the brim with equal amounts of Red Bull and Orange Juice.

16.) Anti Freeze- In a highball glass filled half-way with ice cubes, pour a shot of vodka. Fill to the brim with equal amounts Tonic Water and Lemon Juice.

Alright, now that you have mastered (in theory) those level-two recipes, it is time to make more complicated cocktails which are sure to keep your guests gushing (about the drinks you served) until the next morning, or maybe even until your next get-together.

17.) Raging Pink Bull- In a highball glass filled half-way with ice cubes, pour a shot of Vodka and a tablespoon of Grenadine. Fill to the brim with equal amounts of Red Bull and Orange Juice.

18.) Red Whip- Follow recipe for Raging Pink Bull, increasing the Grenadine to two tablespoons and replacing Red Bull with Orange Juice.

19.) Italian Bastard- Pour a shot of Vodka and half a shot of Dry Vermouth over a highball glass filled half-way with ice cubes. Fill to the brim with equal parts Orange Juice and Lemon Juice.

And here is the final drink, featuring five simple ingredients. This tastes fresh, citrusy and has a beautiful subtle pink color. Be careful though, this may pack quite a punch.

20.) Surf Rider- In a highball glass filled half-way with ice cubes, pour in two shots of Vodka, half a shot of Dry Vermouth, a tablespoon of Grenadine and fill to the brim with equal amounts Lemon Juice and Ornage Juice.

You now have 20 great cocktail recipes under your belt, try what seems to be appealing to you, starting off with the least ingredients you could afford (at the moment). Not all of these recipes are tried and tested (thank god for www.webtender.com), and some I have actually edited myself to decrease the number of ingredients in the cocktail; but for a novice bartender, this is a good start. Remember to taste your cocktails before serving them, come up with your own proportions (which may vary depending on the glass you are using) and please have fun with these cocktails.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and this article, and please do invite me over for some cocktails some time. You know how to reach me:

http://party.i.ph for comments, suggestions and more confessions from this partyphile.

Also, please catch Confessions of aPartyphile (the radio show) on 105.9 Mix FM every Wednesdays, 6 to 9 PM.

And please add me up on Plurk, I’m in terrible need of a Karma increase. http://www.plurk.com/zhaun/invite.